


The Unexpected

by Ravelen



Series: After Words [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Episode Tag, Episode: s03e02 The Powers That Be, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Malec, Post-Episode: s03e02 The Powers that Be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 04:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14157177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravelen/pseuds/Ravelen
Summary: Magnus has stopped telling Alec that Alec constantly surprises him. He stopped whentheystopped, because he’d surprised him in painful ways. But that’s not what holds him back now.I've rated this T but it may push it to a light M? Post-ep for 3x02 The Powers That Be.





	The Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, please forgive any mistakes. I'm British and do my best to Americanize, but Britquirks may remain.
> 
> I don't read other post episode fics if I'm writing one, so any similarities are coincidental.

Alec is fixing their third, maybe fourth, drink and Magnus is curled up in the corner of the couch, feet tucked under him, phone pressed to his ear. 

Catarina's voice is unusually timid on the other end of the line. He's repeated the truth, that it wasn’t her fault, several times by now. But Catarina is a healer and he knows she will carry the guilt of a patient dying for some time. 

"Do you need company?" Magnus asks. "You could bring Madzie by?" 

That draws a laugh out of her. "Magnus, it's nearly midnight. She's been asleep for hours." 

Magnus sees a whirling red portal, Alec covering Madzie with his body. Rufus being ripped apart. There was no love lost between them but wishes upon your worst enemies and all that. 

"How was she, after the party?” he wonders, realizing that he hasn’t thought to ask until now. “She must have been scared?" His throat tightens. 

Catarina sighs. "She's resilient. All she’d say was, ‘Magnus kept us safe’, which was my own words repeated back to me.”

"Resilient or desensitized? That bastard Valentine."

"I know." 

Magnus forces his jaw to relax, realizing that he’s gritting his teeth. They’ve all been focusing on keeping life steady and normal for Madzie and that must continue. "What are your plans for the weekend?" he asks as Alec returns to join him, sitting close and handing him his drink. 

"I have a long one," Catarina tells him, a lightness in her voice again. "Swapped a shift. I'm trying to think of something fun to do for her."

"Can we come?" Magnus responds, immediately. 

Catarina chuckles. "If you want." 

Besides him Alec gives an exaggerated nod and Magnus smirks. "We want." 

"Okay well I better get to bed myself," Catarina sighs. Then, "Magnus. Thank you for what you did. Lorenzo Rey may be enjoying the kudos of being the High Warlock, swanning around with his new title like that's all there is to it, but you stepped in without thinking to protect all of us, to protect the city. Just like you always do. He could learn a thing or two from you. Truly being the High Warlock? It's more than just the name."

Magnus blinks. Alec tugs on his arm while he is absorbing Catarina’s words. 

"What's she saying?" Alec asks. 

Magnus clears his throat. "Some altogether too nice things about me."

"Then she's right!" Alec exclaims and Catarina chuckles. 

"I'll leave you in Alec's capable hands," she says. Magnus grins, at the smile now audible in her voice _and_ at the potential advantages of being left in Alec's capable hands. 

"Goodnight, Cat," he says softly. 

"Goodnight!" Alec calls. 

"Night, boys." 

The line goes dead and Magnus leans forward to slide his phone on to the coffee table. 

He sits back and sips his drink, feels the burn in this throat and thinks he's probably had enough by now and that Alec definitely has, judging by the slow blink Alec gives him when Magnus watches him over the rim of his glass.

Everything about the loft is soft and shadowed. The low light from the lamps dotted about the room warms both the amber in their glasses and Alec’s hazel eyes, making them glint when he catches Magnus studying him and smiles.

Magnus reaches out, tripping fingertips over the smooth skin on the back of Alec's hand. "Thank you," he says, softly. 

Alec tips his head. "For?" 

"Understanding. Accepting,” Magnus explains. He looks down into his glass. “What you found out about me." 

Alec shifts awkwardly on the soft couch, his coordination a little off. He wriggles until he can tuck one long leg beneath him and face Magnus, almost spilling his drink in the process.

Magnus smiles fondly. “Comfortable?”

Alec grins. “Yeah. But hey, listen. Do you judge me by my parents?”

Magnus’s head pulls back in surprise. “Of course not.”

Alec raises his eyebrow. It’s Magnus’s favourite eyebrow. The one with the dashingly sexy scar. 

“But you know their history even better than me,” Alec says. “The things they did. You were there."

“Yes.”

“And yet, you still love me.”

Magnus huffs out a soft laugh. "You make a valid point." 

Alec smiles. "Magnus, we may be made by our parents but we are not responsible for their actions. They may expect us to look at the world as they do but what matters, I think, is how we take what they teach us and learn from it, you know? Flip it. Flip it around and change our ways for the better. Am I making any sense? This is strong!" Alec waves his glass at him.

Magnus is beaming. "Perfect sense." He reaches for Alec’s free hand again, fingers curling around to hold it loosely. Alec squeezes his hand in return and doesn’t let go as they sip their drinks in comfortable quiet.

“I _am_ curious though,” Alec says, when Magnus is nearing the bottom of his glass and his head is beginning to feel pleasantly heavy. “Interested, I mean. In you.”

Magnus turns his head to meet Alec’s gaze and nods. “Okay?”

“Is…um. Does the fact that Asmodeus is a Prince of Hell...is that why you're so powerful? How does that work exactly? How does it feel? I'm sorry if I'm prying. I just…want to know everything about you. Everything...anything you want to tell me, I mean."

Magnus has stopped telling Alec that Alec constantly surprises him. He stopped when _they_ stopped, because he’d surprised him in painful ways. But that’s not what holds him back now. He doesn’t want to start again, because he wants Alec to believe he trusts the way Alec feels about him. Wants to believe it himself, that he won’t scare Alec away eventually. That something revealed about him won’t be too much. Magnus carried centuries of hurt with him into this relationship. Letting go of his fears is sometimes harder than he wants it to be. He wants it to be _easy_ to share every part of himself with Alec, but wanting something and being able to do it are two very different things.

"You're not prying,” he tells Alec, gently. “This is just new to me. Catarina, Ragnor,” he says, but stops when his throat tightens painfully. He swallows, releases Alec’s hand so he can snap his own glass to the table and then turns to face him again on the couch. “My oldest friends are Warlocks who have always known this about me. Anyone else who has known...well, I have never been asked about it with pure intentions. Some found it alluring, or useful, some a source of amusement, to torture me about it." He throws a dark look at the floor.

"Camille?" 

Magnus blinks. "Yes." 

Alec squeezes Magnus’s arm briefly. “I’m sorry.” 

Magnus shakes his head. "I guess I'm not used to someone wanting to know just because they…want to know.” He shrugs. “And certainly not when I actually want to tell them."

"So you do? Want to tell me?" 

Magnus takes a breath. "I do. It just...might take me some time, to tell you everything. For some reason, I still find it difficult to believe that you won't one day see something in me that you…don't like."

"Impossible."

"Alexander..."

Alec shakes his head, lips pursed in that stubborn way he does sometimes. "Impossible.” He leans toward the table, reaching out with his glass until Magnus snaps it the rest of the way for him. 

Alec smiles his thanks then settles back into the couch, taking Magnus’s hands in his own, thumbs stroking over the backs of them. "We've got time. I'm not going anywhere." 

Magnus hums. "Except back to the Institute."

“No, I took the night off.”

Magnus smiles, but thinks about forever instead. He banishes that thought immediately, as he always does. Then he lets out a sigh and draws his hands away from Alec’s, rests his head against the back of the couch and closes his eyes.

"You okay?” Alec asks. “You look exhausted."

"I single-handedly saved all of New York,” Magnus tells him, one eye popping open. “I think I'm entitled to look a little...pooped."

"Single-handedly?"

Magnus smiles. "Maybe I got a little help."

Alec grins. “We make a good team.” He huffs out a laugh that becomes a chuckle, that becomes something like a giggle.

Magnus smiles. They have definitely had a little too much to drink tonight. “What?”

“Just thinking about sneaking into Lorenzo’s house. I know we uncovered some big scary demon stuff but…you were cute behind that couch.”

“Shut up.”

“You _were_. I don’t know how I kept a straight face.”

“What about you, Mr. ‘I dabble’ and ‘Can I see your lovely pot?’”

Alec laughs. “We made a great team though. Maybe if the Shadowhunting business dries up we could be spies…ooh! Art thieves.”

Magnus laughs harder. “We could start by stealing that godawful painting.”

“He’s the baby, you know!” Alec cries, clutching his stomach.

“I know I’ve had the distinct misfortune to be given the guided tour before.”

Alec’s laughter subsides and he sighs. “He really is an ass.”

Magnus smiles and drops his head to the couch again. The truth is he _is_ tired, but he’s likely too wired to sleep. He feels a warmth in his chest from the laughter, the alcohol and just from knowing he’s got Alec for the night.

“What shall we do now?” Magnus asks. “I don’t think I could sleep.”

Alec ponders this, then grins wickedly. “I’d like a shower.”

Magnus flicks an eyebrow, interest piqued. “Oh really.”

\--

Steam fills the bathroom by the time Alec deems the shower hot enough for them to get in. They’re both still feeling the effects of the alcohol, more so since they stood up, in that way that can happen. There is much supportive holding of arms and giggling as they clamber into Magnus’s tub. Magnus can’t bite back a moan when the water hits his skin. He’s felt a little cold ever since the Institute, he always does when half drained of magic like that. This is bliss, tendrils of steam rising around them and Alec in front of him, a misty-eyed vision of pale skin and dark runes. 

Magnus is nearer the spray and tips his head back, wets his hair and grins when Alec’s gaze trips down his throat.

“Turn around,” Alec murmurs and when he does, strong fingers are instantly in Magnus’s hair and pressing against his scalp and his moan is positively sinful this time. Alec’s touch is gone for a few long seconds and then the scent of that damn sandalwood shampoo fills the air and Alec is back, working it through Magnus’s hair as Magnus near enough melts where he stands. 

“I’ve worked out why I like this so much,” Alec says softly. His hands, slippery with foam, drift down Magnus’s neck then settle at his shoulders, thumbs digging into muscles still sore from being flung against the wall earlier. 

Magnus groans. “Hmm?”

Alec’s mouth is near his ear. “Smells like you.”

Inexplicably, Magnus’s eyes sting with sudden, hot tears. He takes a shuddered breath, tasting steam and swallowing hard. Stupid alcohol, he thinks, always makes him emotional. Alec doesn’t seem to notice and busies himself with gently guiding Magnus under the water to rinse the suds out of his hair, long fingers stripping the bubbles away, before they swap places so Alec can wash his own hair. He doesn’t ask Magnus to do it for him though Magnus isn’t complaining, he has one hell of a view right now, Alec’s hands in his own hair, his arms bent as he closes his eyes and lets the water wash over him. It serves as a wonderful distraction from his aching heart.

Magnus thinks about tomorrow, when Alec will return to the Institute, both his home and his place of work. He thinks about how he’ll brew Alec a bottle of the shampoo, because he asked him to, because he wants to smell like Magnus. He thinks about Alec in Alec's cramped little bathroom, devoid of any luxury and something in him snaps.

"Alexander. That shampoo." 

Alec opens his eyes and drops his arms, grinning. "Yeah, you still going to brew me a bottle?" 

Magnus swallows. He goes to speak at least three times before he finally finds the words. "How about you...share mine."

Alec cocks his head to one side. “Hmm?”

If they weren’t in the shower, Magnus would turn away at this point, maybe pace a little. He feels a restless energy in his legs. Alec watches him through the steam, one eye squinting a little in that way it does when he’s not sure what’s going on. Alec steps forward a little, out of the spray and it is free to hit the tub, drowning out the sound of Magnus’s quickened breaths. There’s a whole world out there, where Alec is Head of the New York Institute and Magnus is no longer the High Warlock of Brooklyn in name only, but in this space with the white noise of the water and the mist of the steam there is only them, Magnus and Alec.

Magnus reaches out and presses a palm to Alec’s chest, which is probably not a smart move if he intends to concentrate on this conversation, because now all he’s registering is skin warm and slick from the water and he’s sliding that hand down. 

He blinks and stops, even as he steps closer, their bodies now meeting at several delicious points.

"I mean, I know you're the head of the Institute,” he says softly, “and you will have to stay there sometimes. Probably a lot of times. But when you don't have to stay there. When you're here with me. We could…make it official? Would you consider-" 

"Magnus," Alec cuts in. "Yes." 

"Yes?"

"Of course, yes." Alec’s smile is blinding.

There’s nothing else to do at that point really. Magnus surges forward, his arms flying around Alec’s neck as he devours his mouth. He tastes sweet water, tastes Alec, feels the rasp of a day’s stubble against his lower lip. Alec turns Magnus to press him against a wall and the shock of the cold tiles to his back makes Magnus gasp into the kiss. 

Tomorrow they’ll talk about how it’s going to work and Magnus might worry that it’s too soon, or that Alec would have answered differently if they hadn’t been a little drunk and a lot exhausted (and Alec will tell him to shut up), but right now Magnus is going to trust and he’s going to believe. 

He surprises himself, sometimes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ravelens) \- mainly just re-blogging the pretty stuff everyone else makes because I'm too old to understand. Feel free to come and say hi!


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